Africa
Africa is one of the stages found in the [[Strider (NES)|NES Strider]]. It is the sixth stage to be unlocked, after reproducing Disk #5. The stage is loosely inspired by Chapter 4 of the original manga, except changing the setting from the Amazon rainforest to an African jungle. Besides the similar setting, it also sports cameos of both Chapter 4 enemies Arana and Kubira (though the latter is arguably) as generic stage enemies. Story After the destruction of the Chinese ZAIN Terminal, Hiryu obtains a disk recording revealing Matic's alliance to The Syndicate, as well as the existence of a ZAIN Terminal in Africa. Hiryu proceeds through the African jungle, defeating the members of Matic's personal unit in charge of protecting it, and eventually finds and destroys the terminal located deep within a cave. Hiryu later discovers a section of the African cave can only be accessed through a transport tube found in Australia. Hiryu travels to Australia and inspects this part of the cave, eventually finding and destroying a second Terminal. Layout Note: Area names are not official Jungle Hiryu's starting point is amidst the African jungle. Right at the beginning there's a swamp area infested with crocodiles (possibly representing Kubira or the crocodiles he uses). Following the swamp there is a long jungle path, guarded over by generic "Arana" enemies, which come out of the treetops and attack with their rifles. The path is split into 3 different sections, stacked one above the other, which requires jumping from tree branch to tree branch and the occasional floating platform to avoid ground spikes and the various obstacles. At the end of the last section lies the entrance to the cave. Cave The cave's entrance is a short corridor with a transport tube on its end, leading down. In the room below there's a large chasm with a spiked bed that needs to be crossed using a number of falling platforms. Following a second transport tube, there's a big chamber guarded by enemies and claw robots, leading into a descending shaft with floating platforms. Taking the platforms' path leads into a series of rooms with Spark Machines, and at its end a large chamber with a long chasm. Crossing the chasm with the floating platforms hovering over it leads into a long transport tube that reaches down into the ZAIN Terminal's room. Falling down the crevasse leads into an underground lake, which is guarded by enemies fitted with underwater gear. The lake eventually ends back in the shaft mentioned before, which must be climbed up through a series of floating platforms in order to return to the main path. Stage Enemies Enemies present in this stage include: * Crocodiles * Arana * Bird * Robot Claw (orange model) * Spark Machine * Robot Frong * Scuba Soldier * Boss: ZAIN Terminal Gallery Africa_map.png|Stage location on the Blue Dragon's map Africa_start.png|Starting Point Africa_swamp.png|Swamp Africa_deepjungle.png|Deep Jungle Africa2.jpg|Cave Interior Africa_undergroundwater.png|Underground Lake Trivia * While Africa is a setting only found in the NES Strider, it is still referenced in its two sibling projects: in the manga, Kubira says he swam all the way from Africa to reach the AmazonWada, Tatsumi (November 10, 1989). Strider Hiryû. Chapter 4, Pg. 122. Kadokawa Shoten. ISBN 4-04-713009-5.; in the Arcade game, the theme of the Amazon's final boss Lago is named "African Formidable"/"Africa's Demon" ( ).Alph Lyla wa Lyla (MAy 21, 1989). ''Strider Hiryû -G.S.M. CAPCOM 2-''. CD. Pony Canyon, D25B-1001. Liner Notes, pg. 1-2. * In the Famicom prototype, Africa's map location was set on the western coast of the continent, with its current location assigned to the Red Dragon instead. Interestingly, Egypt's map in the prototype wrongly points to somewhere on South America, which could possibly indicate that Amazon was at one point in development an intended setting, just like in its sibling projects. References Category:Locations